Calligraphy For Beginners

Sunday, 12 April 2015

In this post, I have put together a simple project about
how to write upper case Gothic style letters using a calligraphy pen. There are many variations of Gothic styles, and
here is an example, shown in the YouTube clip.

As you can see, the letterforms have extra details added to
enhance the appearance of the letters. I
used a broad nibbled calligraphy pen, black ink and I drew some guidelines to
keep the letters even. The letters were
about 6 nib widths high.

5 Steps
to Write Impressive Fancy Letters

Gothic Black Letters or Majuscule style letters are quite
tall, normally they are taller than the ascenders. In this example, I have drawn diamond shapes
using a broad nibbed pen within the letters, which are created by drawing short
strokes using a broad nibbed calligraphy pen.
They help to decorate the letters and make them appear grand. I have also drawn vertical thinner lines, decorations,
flairs and flicks drawn within the letters.
I held the pen nib at a constant 45 degree angle.

1)First,
map your work out by drawing faint straight lines on some paper using a ruler
and a hard nibbed sharp pencil

2)Draw
the outline of your capital letters with a faint pencil for guidelines

3)Holding
your broad nibbed calligraphy pen at a constant 45 degree angle, carefully draw
the letters as illustrated in the clip and draw the ticks at the vertical edges
of the letterforms

5)Draw
the diamond shapes carefully by keeping your calligraphy pen nib at a 45 degree
angle and draw very short lines so they appear like diamond shapes. Draw them by the thin vertical lines within
the letters

Gothic Upper-case Alphabet

Majuscule
Letters in Gothic Calligraphy

Some letters are quite wide, such as the letters S, Z, H,
A, and D. Other letterforms are based on
the shape of the letter O. They are quite
wide and fit within a square. These
letters are O, Q, C, G, and T. Narrow
letter are B, F, J, N, U, V, L and Y.

Sunday, 29 March 2015

For this project, I have drawn a simple Celticknot design, using some inexpensive art materials, some paper and a gold edging
marker pen.

The Celtic Knot Shape

Celtic knots resemble interwoven ribbon designs,
that go around forever and they can easily be incorporated into any calligraphy
project or on a gift card. Celtic knots
are commonly used in tattoo designs and printed on fabric.

My Celtic Knot Project 2

I started this project by drawing a Celtic knot
by freehand, using a hard nibbed 2H pencil and layout paper. The materials I used were a black pen, some
pencils for shading and a gold pen.

I first drew the outline of the Celtic knot in
fine pencil, then I drew the outline with the black pen and then shaded the
Celtic knot using a 2H and 2B pencil.
The 2B pencil was used for the darker shading. You can use any medium for this project, such
as charcoal or coloring pencils. You can
get watercolor pencils from any art shop, and they are great for setting off
some color to your artwork. You can dip
the pencil in some water and apply the pencil to paper and this will give an
appearance of watercolor paints.

When mapping out the Celtic knot shape, be
mindful that you keep the ‘ribbon’ width consistent throughout.

A Simple Celtic Knot DesignCeltic Knots and Calligraphy

Celtic knots are used for ornamentation, monuments
and manuscripts and were used extensively in the 8th century Gospels
and the Book of Kells. There are an
endless variety of Celtic knot designs and they can look like basket weave
knots or ribbons. Celtic knots can be
used in all sorts of calligraphy projects and are a great way to introduce
designs in any calligraphy work.

Celtic knots look complex and appealing but they
are easy to draw and look great in any project, with introductions to color and
shading to really set off your work.
They are like plaits on paper and have an interlaced looking
structure. They appear to have ropes
crossing over each other, over and under, like ribbons, for ever.

I will be posting other Celtic knot designs so
they can be introduced and used for other calligraphy projects. Celtic knots are relaxing and fun to draw.

I love Celtic knots because they are quite simple
to draw, but the look beautiful and sets off any artwork really well.

Saturday, 28 March 2015

For this project, I have created a couple of Easter time creations. The first one is a simple Easter card that I written in calligraphy using red ink a fine calligraphy pen and a small nib. I used a basic calligraphy style. I also drew a cross using a fine black biro. I first traced out an outline before drawing the cross.

Easter, also
known as Resurrection Sunday, is one of the most important religious date in
the Christian calendar. Jesus was
crucified on Good Friday and his body was taken from the cross and placed in a
tomb and on the third day, he rose again. The week leading up to Easter is called Holy
Week. Maundy Thursday is the Thursday
before Easter Day and Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter day. Easter holidays are enjoyed by many and is a
good time to have a go at some Easter art.

A Simple
Easter Project for Easter Cards

For this Easter
project, I have created a couple of Easter creations. The first one is a simple Easter card that I
written in calligraphy using red ink, a fine calligraphy pen and a small
nib. I used a basic calligraphy
style. I also drew a cross using a fine
black biro. I first traced out an
outline before drawing the cross. To do
this, I used some plain paper, a hard nibbed pencil, such as a 2H, and a black
pen. For the ‘Easter time’ lettering, I
used a broader nibbed calligraphy nib and ink. For the
cross, I simply mapped out a picture of the cross and drew it with black ink.

Many people
celebrate Easter by giving chocolate Easter eggs or other gifts, but many would
rather give out an Easter card during this time. Easter is also associated with Easter
chickens, or the Easter Bunny. The
Easter Chicken are associated with Easter because this came from Pagan days,
when they were a sign of New Life. Later
on, the Christians took this meaning as a symbol of remembering the Resurrection
of Jesus and a New Life. Decorated eggs
came from an older culture, where eggs were colored red to signify the blood of
Christ at his crucifixion. This
tradition was adopted by Christianity.
The painted eggs are now replaced by chocolate eggs.

Other Easter
Designs

There are
many ideas that you can use for Easter, such as painting a picture of an Easter
egg, an Easter Bunny, some daffodils or a religious theme. Yellow is associated with Easter, and this
color is related with the spring and longer days.

Designs for Easter Holidays

Other Colors
of Easter for your Designs

There are
other colors you can use for your designs in Easter time, such as Red, which
represents the blood of Christ, Gold, which is associated with celebration and
richness, and white, which represents purity.

Thursday, 26 March 2015

For this project, I used a Pilot Parallel Pen, 2.4mm nib
size and green cartridges. There are an
assortment of cartridges in the pack and it makes for great color choices. You can create a gradient of colors by touching
one nib with another one of a different color and this will create a gradual
change of color as you write, which make some beautiful effects.

Calligraphy Is Fun

Parallel Pen Nib Sizes

The Pilot Parallel pen comes in four nib sizes, which are
0.5mm, 2.4mm, 3.8mm and the broadest being 6.0mm. The colors available are black,
blue, green, red, yellow and purple. The great thing about these pens is that
you can create very fine lines by holding the pen sideways so the nib is
vertical.

The Pilot Parallel pens nibs are sharper than conventional
fountain pens. The nibs consists of two
parallel plates, which help to hold the ink and they also have sharp corners so
the writing appears cleaner, sharper and crisp, and the writing more
impressive. The parallel plate is a
unique design, and you can achieve sharper, smoother and neater calligraphy
handwriting, better than conventional calligraphy pens. The ink flow is excellent and you can pick
the pen up again after months of not being used, and the ink will flow easily
as if it were only used yesterday. There
is a converter in the pack, which is used to clean and flush the pen out after
use or for ink refill. The pack has a
shim, which is used to clean the nib between the plates.

Paper For Pilot Parallel Pens

The paper I used was A4 sized sketch paper, which was of a
high quality 130gsm white cartridge paper.
However, I found that the paper could not cope with the amount of ink
used on the paper. The ink started to
soak in the ink and started to bleed and became feathery. This was rather disappointing but I do like
the colors. For this project, I also
used a fine nibbed conventional fountain pen and deep red ink.

I was excited with the new pens, but it is important to be
mindful of the quality of paper used. If
feel that hot pressed paper of a higher quality is better for these pens because
of the amount of ink that comes out of the nibs. These pens can use a lot of ink, so it may be
a cheaper alternative to keep the ink cartridges and refill them with good
quality ink, but be careful when choosing ink as some may clog the pen.

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Mapping out a menu is a great way to practice calligraphy
and laying out your work. It is a simple
project that is productive and also fun to do.
You can use this technique for writing menus on chalkboard.

For this project, I wrote a menu by mapping out the menu
layout first, using a faint pencil and a ruler.

1.I mapped out my work using a hard nibbed pencil
and a ruler. I drew straight lines and
marked out the centre of the paper by dividing the paper width measurement into
two and drew a line in the centre of the paper.
I used a set square to ensure the measurements are straight and at a
right angle.

2.I mapped out the letterings by first of all by counting
each letter and letter-spacing of each line.
I then divided the total number of letters / letter-spacings into two
and worked out the letter or letter-spacing that is central.

3.I write this central letter or letter-spacing
on the central vertical line drawn on the paper, and then I carefully map out
the other letters before and after this central letter to ensure the sentences
are central to the paper. I write the
letters from the centre, outwards.

4.I mapped out all the letters carefully, using a
faint pencil as guidelines before writing the letters with a calligraphy pen.

5.In the example shown, I used black and red ink
and a fine nibbed calligraphy pen

6.I introduced some swirls, using a broader
nibbed calligraphy pen

7.I always remember to check the spelling!

Other
Hints and Tips

Don’t forget to check your calligraphy pen nib size so the
letterings are not too big or small, and fits comfortably onto the page.

Writing menus are a fun way of practising how to layout
your work and practice centring the letterings.

How to
Practise Writing Menus

You can make up your own menu design and practice writing
the layout of your menu on some stiff card or fancy paper. You can also introduce some swirls, patterns
or even some Celtic knots to customise your menu. You can draw some frames or margins to exemplify
your work. It is special to make your
own home-made custom menus and you can give it that individual and unique touch.

Putting
Color into Menus

Why not introduce some pastel shading, watercolors or color
to your design with pencils, or even draw some illustrations of food to enhance
your menu.

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Finding
every opportunity to practising to write in a calligraphy style is a great way
to keep your skill alive and refining your technique. You can find lots of opportunities to do
this, for example, when writing out notes, writing a shopping list, a menu, a task
list, even doing a crossword puzzle or Arrow Words! Anything that needs handwriting can be
written in a calligraphy style. You will
find that your calligraphy will look better with time and it will become second
nature and you may also find that you can write calligraphy faster than before.

In the
example shown below, is an example of how you can use calligraphy in everyday
situations, such as a simple shopping list.

The YouTube clip shown illustrates how to write a short shopping list
written in Gothic style, using black ink and a broad nibbed calligraphy
pen. Of course, if you are in a rush,
then it is not practical to do this. I
used a Manuscript calligraphy pen and the nib size used was a 4B or 2.8, which
is one of the broader sized nib. You can
write out a list of anything you like, such as a grocery list, things to do or
other lists in general.

A collage of calligraphy writing

Keep Practising Calligraphy for a
Professional Look

Writing gift
cards, Christmas cards, birthday cards, festive events and any other special occasional
cards, are a great way to practice gorgeous handwriting. Writing a letter for a special occasion, and
writing on an envelope with beautiful styles is a lovely and creative personal
touch for that someone special. Writing calligraphy
is very relaxing if you know how and writing a list is a great start in practising calligraphy styles but it is important to enjoy it too.

Monday, 2 March 2015

Mother’s Day
or Mothering Sunday has been celebrated for many years around the world, and the
tradition originated from North America.
It is a celebration of motherhood and family bonds. In the UK, Mother’s Day moves ever year, usually
around the spring time. Families traditionally
invite families around for Mother’s Day and treat their mothers with gifts, days
out, chocolates and cards. In the US,
Mothering Sunday is a national holiday and is a celebration of the importance
of mothers.

In the UK,
this day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent and the dates are not
fixed. Celebrating Mother’s Day came
earlier than in the USA and England was the first country to celebrate Mother’s
Day. Mother’s Day cake is traditionally
a Simnel Cake, which is an almond cake.

How to
Write a Mother’s Day Card Using a Calligraphy Pen

Here is an example of how to write a Mother’s
day card using a broad nibbed calligraphy pen, black ink and writing in Gothic style. I used black ink cartridges and a
Manuscript calligraphy pen. The broad
nib size used was a 4B or 2.8. When
writing on card, be careful to choose a card that is not too shiny or rough, as
this will affect your calligraphy work.
Shiny card will make the ink smudge and run and rough surfaces will make
your nib snag and will affect your calligraphy work. Before writing your card, think of a short
and simple poem or think about what you’d like to write in the card. Draw some faint pencil lines with a ruler for
guidelines before you write in your card.

YouTube
Clip of How to Write in Calligraphy

This video
clip gives an example of how to write out a Mother’s Day card using a Gothic
style, but you can choose another style, such as Italic or Cursive. You can draw patterns or swirls to set your
work off nicely and introduce some colors to create some stunning designs. You can also use fancy calligraphy writing
for gift tags too.

Practice
your writing on a scrap bit of paper before writing in the Mother’s Day card,
and make sure your work is evenly spaced and pleasing to the eye.